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Francisco Coching: Filipino Comic Legend

Francisco V. Coching was a Filipino illustrator and comic book artist born in 1919. He dedicated his life to his family and his art, creating comic novels for over four decades. Some of his most famous and popular works included "Hagibis" from 1947-1950, which was inspired by Tarzan and made into a successful film, as well as "Pedro Penduko" and "Thor." Coching produced over 60 titles covering many genres and helped establish the komiks medium in the Philippines. He died in 1998 and was honored as the "Dean of Filipino Illustrators."

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406 views3 pages

Francisco Coching: Filipino Comic Legend

Francisco V. Coching was a Filipino illustrator and comic book artist born in 1919. He dedicated his life to his family and his art, creating comic novels for over four decades. Some of his most famous and popular works included "Hagibis" from 1947-1950, which was inspired by Tarzan and made into a successful film, as well as "Pedro Penduko" and "Thor." Coching produced over 60 titles covering many genres and helped establish the komiks medium in the Philippines. He died in 1998 and was honored as the "Dean of Filipino Illustrators."

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Jerico Celeste
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Francisco Vicente Coching

“Koko”

Francisco V. Coching was born January 29, 1919, to novelist Gregorio Coching and Jua
na Vicente, in Pasay City, Metro Manila. He dedicated his life to his family and to the a
rt of writing and illustrating comics novels for four decades. Mostly a self-taught artist,
Coching started with pen-and-ink drawings and later graduated to storytelling, via co
mics illustrations. His father was a novelist for a magazine, and Coching apprenticed u
nder him at first. Under the tutelage of the acclaimed Tony Velasquez, creator of the "
Kenkoy" series, Coching's first serious work was "Bing Bigotilyo," created in 1934. This
was followed by "Marabini," a creation interrupted by World War II, during which he jo
ined the ROTC Hunters, enlisting in its guerrilla group called the Kamagong Unit. In 19
44 Coching met and married Filomena Navales, who became not just his wife but his l
ifetime assistant.

Coching's seventh creation was "Hagibis," which he created from 1947-1950. Loosely i
nspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Tarzan," "Hagibis" proved to be so popular it was m
ade into a film with 'Fernando Poe Sr' (Hagibis (1947)) and Coching followed it up with
several sequels. "Hagibis" helped secure his fame as an illustrating artist. From "Hagib
is" through "Pedro Penduko" in 1954 to "Thor" in 1962, "Tiagong Lundag" in 1966 and
"El Vibora" in 1972, Coching churned out endless sagas of romance and adventure, of
heroic exploits and mighty deeds that fed the popular imagination of the Filipino read
er and movie-going audience. Coching was very prolific, credited with approximately
60 titles, and his works covered many genres: mystery, fantasy, romance, adventure, m
ythology, folklore, horror, biography, sex, drama and comedy, for example. Although f
rom time to time he was inspired by foreign works like "Tarzan" and Louis L'Amour's w
estern novels, Coching stuck close to Filipino local color, and today he is considered th
e "Dean of Filipino illustrators," his name revered in the same league as one reveres Ba
lagtas and even 'José Rizal'.

Coching died in 1998, and his wife and children gave him a tribute at the Pasig Museu
m (Pasig City), where huge movie posters of Coching-written films and studio stills fro
m LVN Pictures, Sampaguita Studios and Premiere Productions adorned the museum.
The lead stars of his works-turned-movies, like Vic Vargas and Cesar Ramirez, attende
d the tribute. Coching helped to make the "komiks" an effective medium of verbal and
visual literacy, thus promoting Filipino as national language.

Artworks

1. Ang Barbaro 1950

2. Pondahan ni Luming 1947


3. Hagibis 1949

Reference
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